Bag holder



May 10, 1938.

A. J. GEESAMAN BAG HOLDER Filed Jan. 21, 1957 INVENTOR ALV/N J GEES/ MAN ATTORNEY.

Patented May 10, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE BAG HOLDER Alvin J. Geesaman, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Application January 21, 1937, Serial No. 121,542

3 Claims.

This invention relates to holding means and has particular relation to means whereby one or more paper bags may be impaled upon a sharpened hook and removed therefrom one by one in succession. Devices of this general character have been proposed in which bags were impaled upon a hook, but the loading of the bags on the hook was dangerous, as considerable force is necessary for piercing a large number of paper bags and the operator sometimes misjudged the position of the hook and injured his hands. Furthermore, the unprotected hooks in themselves constituted a hazard in that persons might be injured by accidentally striking the hooks in moving about the store or other places in which the devices were used.

It is a general object of my invention to over come the diificulties of the devices of the prior art and to provide a bag holder in which the hook or prong for impaling the bags is reversed so that the hook is protected.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a hook supporting structure which may be struck by the hand or a mallet or the like to impale a large number of bags on the hook.

Another object of my invention is to provide means for preventing the hook from being dulled by striking the wall or other support which forms the back of the bag holding 'device.

Another object of my invention is to provide positive means for holding the hook in engaged position on the bags so that there is no possibility of the hook becoming disengaged to drop the bags.

Another object of my invention is to provide a cooperative holding means on the device which assists the hook in holding the bags.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive device of the above character.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accom- I panying drawing and following specifications,

a portion thereof has been torn away to better show the parts of the device.

Referring now to the drawing, I preferably provide a base plate Iii which may be of standard metal section which is readily formed with 5 the reinforcing edges H to stiffen the plate and to afford some degree of ornamentation to the device. The base plate may be fastened to a board, a post or wall or other support (not shown) as desired, by means of screws l2. The plate is provided with several upstruck portions indicated at l3, I4, I6, andl'l, one of the upstruck portions It being substantially rectangular in form and projecting outwardly from the base plate I8- to afford a stop as hereinafter more particularly described.

A pair of opposed ears l8 and 19 are provided by punching them up from the base. These members may be in the form of angles or the like secured to the base plate It in any desired manner as for instance by spot welding. These ears are pierced to provide bearings through which a pivot pin 2! may be passed. A roughly rectangular plate 22, which may be termed the hook or prong plate, is pivotally engaged on the pivot 2! at its upper end and this plate is provided with inwardly extending flanges 23 and 24 at its edges in order to afford stiffening means for the plate and to add to the appearance of the device.

The plate 22 has a rectangular opening 26 cut at substantially its center to receive the hook 21a of a spring or latch member 21. A prong 28 on which the bags may be impaled is secured at the lower portion of the plate 22 by drilling an opening through the plate and welding the sharpened hook in place in the opening with the point projecting inwardly. The lower edge of the plate 22 is preferably rounded as indicated at 29. 40

The plate holding means 2'! is preferably in the form of an angularly shaped spring clip with one arm 211) secured beneath the upstruck strips 56 and IT. Of course, the spring may be secured to the base plate II] in any desired manner but inasmuch as it is difiicult to weld the spring 21 to the base plate It), by reason of the dissimilarity of the metals, the upstruck strips I 6 and I1 form an inexpensive method of holding the spring.

As has been heretofore explained. the rectangular upstruck member [3 afiords a stop for preventing the prong plate 22 from driving the prong 28 against the base plate Hi and the lengths of member [3 and prong 28 are, of course, so chosen that when the plate 22 is in its extreme engaged position shown in the drawing the point of the prong 28 just clears the base plate It. The upstruck portion M of plate i0 is in the shape of a frustum of a cone and the edge of this upstruck portion forms an additional retaining means which assists in enabling the print 28 to pierce the bags and also to hold the bags in place on the prong when the bags are engaged. The upstruck portion 13 also performs the function of acting as a guide for preventing the bags from being inserted too far into the jaws of the bag holder. This is important as the bags are usually cut away on one side thereof as indicated by the line 3! so that the hook will engage only one side wall of the bag and permit the bags to be more readily torn from the prong.

After the bags have been impaled on the prong, the prong will be in the extreme engaged position shown in the drawing and the hooked end. 21a of the latch member Zll will engage the edge of the opening 26, as indicated in the drawing, to hold the prong in its engaged position and prevent it from moving outwardly to disengage the bags.

In engaging a plurality of bags, such as the bag 32 shown in the drawing, in the bag holding device, the bags are inserted in the device until the upper edge of the bag strikes the upstruck member 3. The face of the lower end of the plate 22 may then be struck with the palm of the hand, with the fist or with a mallet or the like to drive the prong 28 through the bags. The sloping portion of the hook 2la of spring 2? passes through the opening 26 as indicated by the dotted lines at 33 and when the spring 28 is fully engaged the hook engages the edge of the opening 26 as explained to hold the plate 22 down to thereby hold the prong in its fully engaged position.

In removing the bags from the holding device the operator inserts his fingers under the bottom of the bag at the point indicated at 33 and the bag may be pulled off by tearing it from the prong 28. Only one bag can be removed at a time in this manner and the device thus affords means for removing one bag or each bag in succession as they are needed. The prong 28 cannot become disengaged from the remaining bags except by manipulation of the hook 27a to release the member 22. The prong 28 is protected by the plate 22 and the holding means l4 and. thus the possibility of injury from the prong is eliminated. Even if the prong is not engaged on the bags the weight of the member 22 causes it to return to substantially closed position where the prong can do no harm.

It is apparent that modifications of my invention may be made by those skilled in the art. For instance, the end of the plate 22 may be formed in a button-like form or a button provided on the outer side thereof to facilitate pounding the prong into the bags. The member 22 may be bent if desired so that the lower end thereof is parallel to the base plate l9. These and other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. Ina bag holding means, a base plate, a prong plate pivotally engaged to the base plate, the base plate having a plurality of upstruck portions, a latch member engaged by at least one of the upstruck portions, another upstruck portion being disposed to act as a stop for the prong plate.

2. In a bag holding means, a base plate, a prong plate pivotally engaged to the base plate, a prong projecting inwardly from the prong plate, the base plate having a plurality of upstruck portions, a latch member engaged by at least one of the upstruck portions, another upstruck portion being disposed to act as a stop for the prong plate, and still another of the upstruck portions being arranged adjacent to the end of the prong to assist in holding the bag.

3. In a bag holding means, a base plate, a prong plate pivotally engaged to the base plate, a prong projecting inwardly from the prong plate, the base plate having a plurality of upstruck portions, a spring latch member engaged by at least one of the upstruck portions, another upstruck portion being disposed to act as a stop for the prong plate, and still another of the upstruck portions being arranged adjacent to the end of the prong to assist in holding the bag, the prong plate having an opening therethrough to receive the latch and the spring latch member being formed to pass through the opening and hold the prong in engaged position.

ALVIN J. GEESAMAN. 

